Reading passage Grade 6 Social Studies & Civics

Brimley's Wells and the New PFAS Rule

A grade 6 civics passage pairing a fictional town's PFAS discovery with the national PFAS rule to show the roles of citizens, the utility, the state, and the EPA.

Grade: Grade 6
Subject: Social Studies & Civics
Material: Reading passage
Time: 35 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

RI.6.1 Common Core ELA

Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

How this material aligns: Questions 2 and 3 require students to cite specific details from the passage about how the wells were tested and what limit the EPA set.

All materials for RI.6.1 →

D2.Civ.13.6-8 C3 Framework

Analyze the purposes, implementation, and consequences of public policies in multiple settings.

How this material aligns: Students analyze how a public drinking water rule is made and changed, tracing its purpose and implementation across town, state, and federal levels.

All materials for D2.Civ.13.6-8 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-23.

Objectives

Students will describe how a drinking water contaminant moves from a local question to a national rule.
Students will identify the roles of citizens, the town, the state, and the EPA in setting water rules.

Vocabulary

PFAS: A large family of human-made chemicals used in things like nonstick pans, waterproof fabric, and firefighting foam. They are called forever chemicals because they take a very long time to break down.
Contaminant: A contaminant is anything in water that should not be there, whether it is a germ, a chemical, or too much of a natural mineral, that could make the water unsafe or unpleasant to use. Treatment plants are built specifically to find and remove contaminants before water reaches the tap.
Parts per trillion: A unit for measuring extremely small amounts of a chemical in water. PFAS limits are set in parts per trillion because these chemicals matter even in tiny doses.

Also: EPA, regulation

Teacher overview

This passage follows a fictional town as it finds a small amount of PFAS in one well. It uses that story to show how a water problem becomes a national rule, and how citizens, the town, the state, and the EPA each play a part. Teachers can assign it to introduce shared government roles and the idea that some rules are still being worked out. The PFAS limit is presented as real and still in motion.

Brimley's Wells and the New PFAS Rule — Grade 6 Social Studies & Civics

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Passage

Some chemicals made by people break down very slowly, if at all. One large group of them is called PFAS. People also call them "forever chemicals," because they stay in water and soil for a very long time. PFAS have been used in many products, such as nonstick pans and stain-proof cloth. Over the years, small amounts washed into the ground. In some places, they reached the water that towns drink.

The fictional town of Brimley draws its water from wells. For a long time, no one tested the wells for PFAS. The town tested for germs and for metals like lead, but not for these newer chemicals. Then a resident read about PFAS in another town. She asked the Brimley water utility a simple question. Had anyone checked the wells for forever chemicals?

The utility agreed to test. The results showed a small amount of PFAS in one well. The level was low, but it was there. Now the town had to decide what to do. This is where different levels of government come in.

Water rules in the United States are shared. A town runs its own wells and pipes. A state watches over the town's water and can set its own limits. The federal government, through an agency called the EPA, sets rules for the whole country. When a new problem like PFAS appears, all three levels have a part to play.

For many years, there was no national limit for PFAS in drinking water. Scientists studied the health effects. States and citizens pushed for action. In 2024, the EPA set its first national limit. It said two of the most studied PFAS, called PFOA and PFOS, could each be no higher than four parts per trillion. That is a tiny amount, about one drop spread through five Olympic-size swimming pools.

Setting a rule is only the start. Towns need time and money to meet a new limit. The EPA first set a deadline of April 2029 for towns to comply. Then, in May 2026, it proposed letting towns that qualify ask for two more years, until April 2031. A town would have to apply for the extra time, and the limit itself would stay the same. As of September 2026, this idea was still only a proposal. This shows that a rule is not always fixed. It can still change as towns, states, and the EPA work out what is possible. Reporters and residents follow these changes closely.

Back in Brimley, the low PFAS level in one well started a plan. The utility looked at new filters that can remove PFAS. The town held a public meeting so residents could ask questions. The state offered advice and checked the utility's testing. The resident who first asked the question kept coming to the meetings.

Brimley's story shows how a contaminant becomes a rule. It starts with a question and a test. It grows as scientists study the risk. It becomes law when a government sets a limit. And it keeps moving as towns work to meet that limit. Keeping water clean depends on science, and it is also a shared job for citizens and government at every level.

Questions

What does the nickname "forever chemicals" tell you about PFAS?
How did Brimley first come to test its wells for PFAS?
What did the EPA do in 2024 about PFAS? Give the limit named in the passage.
The passage says a rule "is not always fixed." Use the deadline example to explain what this means.
Why does the passage say water rules are "shared"? Name the part each level of government plays.
According to the passage, what are the steps by which a contaminant becomes a rule?

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key

Answer: It tells you that PFAS break down very slowly or hardly at all. The passage says they stay in water and soil for a very long time.
Answer: A resident read about PFAS in another town and asked the utility whether anyone had checked Brimley's wells, which led the utility to test.
Answer: The EPA set its first national PFAS limit. It said PFOA and PFOS could each be no higher than four parts per trillion.
Answer: It means a rule can change. The EPA set a deadline of 2029, then proposed letting towns that qualify apply for two more years, until 2031, to meet the limit. The limit would stay the same, and the proposal was not yet final.
Answer: The town runs its own wells and pipes, the state watches over the water and can set its own limits, and the EPA sets rules for the whole country.
Answer: It starts with a question and a test, grows as scientists study the risk, becomes law when a government sets a limit, and keeps moving as towns work to meet it.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students a simple step chart (Question and test, Study the risk, Set a limit, Meet the limit) to fill in as they read. Let them answer questions 1 through 3 by pointing to the matching part of the passage first.

Extension

Ask students to write a short paragraph on why a very small limit, like one drop in five swimming pools, can still be hard for a town to meet, using the filter and deadline details from the passage.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "PFAS," "contaminant," "EPA," and "regulation" with plain definitions and pictures. Provide a sentence frame for the roles question: "The ___ is in charge of ___." Allow students to answer literal questions with short phrases.